Last month, the Pascagoula City Council authorized city attorney Eddie Williams to send a letter to Jackson County asking them to preserve assets (equipment, vehicles, money, etc.) as much as possible in case litigation ensues.

Earlier this year, the city made a demand for assets on behalf of the SMMET, Williams said, "but the demand was rejected based on the fact that the task force agreement has not expired yet."

The Narcotics Task Force was once multi-jurisdictional, including Jackson County deputies and officers from Moss Point, Pascagoula, Gautier and Ocean Springs.

The sheriff's department is now the only member of the task force, Williams said, and that original task force agreement is set to expire Dec. 31.

The agreement said "the county would hold all assets generated by the activity of the task force," Williams said, but it didn't address what would happen to the assets if the task force dissolved.

"We're hoping we can resolve this amicably, but we might need to ask a judge to issue a declaratory judgment to see what he feels the rights of the parties are for those assets," he said.

Pascagoula Councilmen Harold Tillman and Joe Abston both voted to send to letter to the county, they said.

"When the police departments decided to leave, it should have been divvied up fairly," Tillman said. "We were essential parts of that agency and worked as hard as the county did. We deserve our piece of the pie."

Abston agreed.

"We helped in acquiring those assets, as well as Moss Point officers and others," he said, "so I support what is fair and equitable. The county didn't do everything on their own. They got a lot of help from the city guys."

A formal complaint for declaratory relief has not been filed, Williams said, but it is something the city has discussed in case the county doesn't agree to share the assets.

Jackson County's attorney could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.